School Facilities

The idea of designing and developing a ‘secret garden’ in the school grounds, for the use of the community, began in 1997. The children designed and helped to plan a garden with the theme of `Millennium Bugs` as it was in the year 2000.

The `Secret Garden` was officially opened by the famous children’s author Terry Deary in 2001.

In the Secret Garden there are lots of things for us to do and see, including a fence where each post has been carved with a pupils name who were at the school when the Secret Garden was completed.

There is a large outdoor play area for our younger children which has a huge sand tray with water feature …..we can paddle in this when the weather is hot and sunny.

Through the willow walkway there is a sundial where we can stand on the spot in the centre creating a shadow and to show us the time. The tiered seating area is used as an outdoor theatre or an outdoor classroom.

In the greenhouse the children from gardening club grow plants, fruit and vegetables .

The garden path has lots of colourful flowers, plants and bushes either side with a sheep seat carved from stone by the artist Keith Alexander. The design is from a quilt that can be found in ‘The Bowes Museum’, Barnard Castle. Further down the path is our ‘Fairy Garden’ with ring of toadstool seats where we can sit and chat.

Walking past the stile our ‘Giraffe family’ poke their long necks over the hedge. These were installed by our Zimbabwean artists who spent 3 weeks working with us in May 2011.

Then we enter the maze! Hidden in the maze are lots of metal sculptures, designed on the millennium bug theme. Exploring the maze you will find Roger the ram and Matilda the cow, our metal life-size sculptures. These guide you to the bird hide which lets us watch birds in the pond area without them knowing!

Leaving the maze we enter the ‘Butterfly garden’ and to a gate guarded by a large Millennium bug! Through the gate is the pond area full of fish and a beautiful water feature based on a water Iris. It is peaceful in the pond area and we can sit quietly here if we want to, as long as there is an adult to supervise us!
The beautiful stone sculptures that have been installed were made by our Zimbabwean artists Matthew and Dudsai which incorporate the African theme which links to our partner schools in Tanzania and our work on Zimbabwe.

It is a very special place that is different every year as it grows and changes like us!

The Gruffalo Story Trail

The Trail tells the story from the popular children’s book, The Gruffalo, written by Julia Donaldson and illustrated by Axel Scheffler which tells the story, in rhyme, of a mouse’s walk in the woods. .

“A mouse took a stroll through the deep dark wood. The fox saw the mouse and the mouse looked good.”

Walk further into the deep dark wood, and discover what happens when the quick-thinking mouse comes face to face with an owl, a snake and a hungry gruffalo…..

Our Gruffalo Trail has lots of things related to the story that the children can explore, including large wooden carvings of the animals mentioned in the story. These include: a fox, an owl, a mouse, a gruffalo, and a snake. Some of these carvings have been cleverly designed so that we can sit on them. There is also a slate river over which there is a wooden bridge and a seating area at the far end of the trail.

Outdoor Play Area / School Field

The outdoor play area is an enclosed area where the ground is covered in bark chippings. This is to help prevent serious injury if children fall whilst playing. All of the equipment in the bark area, apart from the climbing net, is made from wood.

The climbing frame includes a climbing net, balancing skills can be practiced on the obstacle course, the Wendy House can be used either to play in or climb over and the monkey bars can be climb on or hung upside down from.

Ofsted – Outstanding

“This is an outstanding school. ‘Our children love going to school, they work hard, make excellent progress and have fun’ is a typical comment that reflects parents’ unanimous support for the school.” Ofsted 2009

SIAMS – Outstanding

“The effectiveness and distinctiveness of Bowes Hutchinson’s Church of England Primary School as a Church of England School are outstanding. Religious Education has a high status in school and is taught creatively. Christian values form the foundation stone on which the school's achievements are built.” SIAMS Inspection 2014

School Creed

"This is our school,
Let peace dwell here
Let the rooms be full of contentment,
Let love abide here,
Love of mankind,
Love of life itself,
And love of God,
Let us remember
That as many hands build a house,
So many hearts made a school"